Vexated Yearning
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: AU-ish, takes place after the Monaco Cup arc. Kai and Monica are together now, and everyone knows it. Unfortunately for Monica, there are two others that form affection towards her, and while one is determined to have Monica gain affection for him, the other is holding back on this out of fear. Will the samurai and the patissier be able to handle this, or will things just get worse
1. Passion Heart

**Author note: I don't own Yakitate! Japan.**

**...I wanted to write a Valentine's day fic for this fandom. The problem was, I didn't have time and I couldn't think of anything, so...Instead, I present to you readers this fic. Hopefully this will be good, and that I hope to keep everyone in character. I'll try to update this when I can, but I have other multi-chapter fics in this fandom and outside this fandom, so updates will probably be slow until much later on.**

**I want to say thanks to Bite the Dust for giving me advice for this fic, and by the way, this is your belated Valentine's day present. Hope you like it. :)**

**Warnings: Obvious pairings and implied onesided pairings (onesided towards Monica, particularly-some pairings may include yaoi), takes place after the Monaco Cup and kind of AU, possible violence, possible swearing.**

**Constructive Criticism would be greatly appreciated, and I hope you guys read, review and enjoy! Thanks!**

* * *

_**Vexated Yearning**_

* * *

_Prologue. Passion Heart_

* * *

Ah, dang it.

Shachihoko wasn't happy that the American team lost to the Japanese team. He was happy for Azuma and the other teammates, but...He'd really wanted his team to win! And after all the effort of teaching Shadow and Monica the necessary things they needed to know about bread, too!

Then again, it was kind of hard to communicate with his teammates, considering that they barely spoke to each other during the whole tournament.

At least he got to talk with Monica, even if it had to be the one or two times Shadow wasn't around. And the pouting face she'd made when Shachihoko tried to eat some of her snacks-that was kind of...Cute.

As much as Shachihoko hated to admit it, he'd started liking her. And not just because of her looks and her love for snacks. There were other reasons, too.

She was talented. Sure, she'd only just started out with baking, but being the expert patissier she was, she made the most amazing candy masterpieces he'd ever seen. He even watched her once when she made that bread with the candy rose that beat Suwabara in the finals. He wasn't a patissier expert, but something that Monica made was probably difficult for most of them to do, he bet.

She was very friendly, too. He'd seen her warm up to Kai after the finals match, and even though the samurai kept rejecting the fact that she was his girlfriend, he seemed to be getting used to her hanging around with him. Good for Kai, it would probably soften him up a little bit. Make him less scary, so that he would be less likely to chase Shachihoko or Kawachi with his katana blade, screaming _"I'll cut you!"_

There were other reasons besides those as well, but Shachihoko couldn't really list all of them yet.

Kai Suwabara. The samurai got to be with Monica, after their finals match.

_Dang it._

Shachihoko knew that he should be a nice guy and not interfere with the two, but...

As far as he knew, nice guys always finished last, and he hated being last.

* * *

Kai Suwabara felt, well...

Was _confused_ the right word for this?

Well, he hadn't expected to lose in the finals. Nor did he expect to gain a 'girlfriend,' as Kawachi had tried to explain to him. A 'girlfriend' by the name of Monica Adenauer, the patissier who won against him in the finals.

Kawachi also found it incredibly weird that Kai loved the sight of Monica's hands, charred from the high temperatures of molding candy. Kai punched him in the face for that comment and threatened to cut him up if Kawachi didn't shut up. Sure, maybe they weren't exactly a thing of 'beauty' in most people's eyes, but Kai saw the hard work and dedication to her dream shown right on her hands. He truly admired her for that, and for her strength as a craftsman.

It was weird how they got together in a police station of all places, but it couldn't be that bad compared to, let's say, the place where the Monaco Cup finals were taking place...At least, he thought so.

He concluded that the confusion must really be due to the whole 'girlfriend' thing. He would just have to accept it for now and try to get used to it. At least, he hoped he could get used to it...

* * *

Wrong. Irrational. _Improper._

It _must_ be completely improper for one to have such feelings of childish infuation for someone at least eight to ten years younger than himself.

_Goodness, no. No. NO. It's not appropriate. _Meister thought to himself as he struggled to get himself to stop blushing and thinking of her so he could concentrate on the bunch of reports resting on his desk. _I would be accused of being a pedophile and the like. Not good. Ever. At all._

The weird feelings bubbling in his chest started while he and Tsukino talked in private with Monica Adenauer. The new owner of Pantasia and Meister both found out that St. Pierre had offered Monica the chance to be General Manager of their new patisserie branch, and they knew that they couldn't lose such remarkable talent to their rival. When the time came to talk with the queen of patissiere, Meister realized immediately not just her passion for her work, he also noticed her way of speech, how pretty she looked (and he wasn't even looking at her chest, he was more of a face person), and even her charred hands from the molding of candy.

Monica decided to accept Tsukino's offer. Yukino had decided to make the offer for Monica to be General Manager of the St. Pierre patissiere branch null and void, anyway.

But back to the subject of what Meister noticed about her. When she smiled...

He'd _blushed_ from underneath his mask. Not too noticeably, though, and he was thankful for his mask to cover that.

He expected these sorts of things to go with, let's say, someone a bit older. His age, maybe. Not to someone eight to ten years younger than himi.

_Besides, she's already dating Suwabara! If I dare try to approach her romantically, the samurai would probably go and kill me in my sleep! Or get I'll arrested for possibly being accused of being a pedophile! Or something worse, even!_

_But, _Another voice in Meister's head whispered, becoming a bit of a devil's advocate, _Even if you know you can't make her love you, at least you could try to profess your feelings? It's not like you're thinking promiscious thoughts or anything else scandalous about her. It's okay if you just tell her your feelings, right? As long as you don't make her uncomfortable..._

"No." Meister whispered softly, even though there was no one in the office except for him. "These feelings are just...Just wrong. They'll pass away eventually."

_I do hope that they will._


	2. If my heart was still beating

_1. If my heart was still beating..._

Kai knew he would have a lot to get used to in the next little while. Having your 'girlfriend' live with you would definitely be something to get used to, and brought about change.

The first change was that he would have to provide food not just for himself, but for Monica, too. This wasn't too bad, unless you counted the fact that Monica loved snacks and would go out to buy them pretty often...Kai tried to get her to curb the habit at least a little, and it didn't really go so well.

The second change was...There were certain _necessities_ that showed themselves mostly in the bathroom. Suwabara didn't understand the abundance of feminine products at first, and Monica had to give him a ten-minute-long explanation about why she needed them. He was slightly scarred after that.

The third change was that he didn't really have a bedroom to sleep in, since he decided to let Monica use it (he figured it wouldn't really be nice to make her sleep on the floor or anything like that). Instead, he just slept in the living-room-area of the apartment, on the couch. That wasn't too bad compared to the first two changes (especially the second).

Okay, the changes were slightly annoying. But, he figured that it wasn't too bad, considering that at least she helped out with cooking meals and stuff when she was around. It wasn't like she was poking into any personal belongings of his, either, so that was good, too. Whenever the two talked, though...

They found themselves running out of stuff to talk about. It wasn't like the two had too much in common, besides bread and Pantasia and candy and such.

Speaking of talking, Kai realized that he hadn't been talking much with his 'girlfriend' lately, but that was due to her getting used to her new job. Currently, however, she was here in the apartment, and in the process of preparing cookie dough when...

"Kai?" Monica's voice caught Kai's attention. "We just ran out of sugar..."

"Oh." Kai turned towards Monica. "I'll go out and get some. Is there anything else you might need?" He asked. _And please don't say another bag of potato chips, because we still have three left. _Kai wanted to add, but refrained from saying so.

"Mm..." Monica paused for a moment. "I don't think so."

"Okay, good." Kai headed to the door. "I'll be back soon."

As soon as the samurai left, Monica felt her cellphone vibrating in her pants pocket. She took out the phone, and answered.

"Hello-" she started, only to be interrupted by an odd...Pick-up line...

_"If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me and then let me eat it?"_

* * *

"I have needs that cannibalism just can't satisfy." Meister read aloud as he flipped through the book. "No, no, not a good one..." He trailed off, flipping to the next page before letting out a sigh. Matsushiro gave Meister the book of pick-up lines a while back, during one time when the two once went to a bar together in the past. Matsushiro had no trouble flirting with the ladies. Meister, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by all the women hitting on him and hid in the mens bathroom until Matsushiro found him.

"You'll need it if you're going to ever start a conversation with someone you're attracted to. I just know you'll need it." Matsushiro told him that time.

Why was Meister even looking at this book during work?

Well...He _was _bored, and he only had one more report to finish up. He figured he could take a break, hence the reason why he was 'reviewing' his list of phone numbers on his cellphone and flipping through the pick-up line book at the same time.

Not realizing he accidentally pressed the 'call' button on a particular phone number, he read another pick-up line out loud, just as the person he unintenionally called answered it.

_"Hello-"_

"If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me and then let me eat it?" Meister interrupted as he read aloud from the book, still not realizing that someone answered his phone.

_"...Wait, what!?" _Monica's voice was heard on the phone.

"Huh!?" Meister's eyes widened in shock behind his mask as he put down the book, before noticing the phone. "...Shoot..." He trailed off, mortification getting into his tone of voice. "Adenauer-san...Uh...I-um...I'm sorry!" He apologized quickly as he mentally face-palmed himself. "I didn't realize I accidentally called you! I was just reviewing phone numbers while I was reading and...Um..." He felt his face heat up, and he knew he was blushing of embarassment. "I'm sorry!" He finished, his voice squeaking a little bit.

_Shoot, why!? WHY NOW!? And she just had to answer when I said that stupid pick-up line! And why did I even call her out of all people by accident?! _Meister took a deep breath, trying to calm down as he put the cellphone to his ear. _Fate must be so cruel..._

He immediately thought that she might be upset by the pick-up line. To his surprise, she laughed a little instead.

_"Ah, it's okay!" _Monica responded, and he could hear her smile. _"What's with the weird pick-up line, anyway?"_

"Well..." Meister hesitated, before figuring he might as well come out with the truth. "I was reading aloud from a book of pick-up lines."

_"...Seriously?" _Monica asked, skeptical.

"Yes. The line you heard just now was one of the pick-up lines from the book." Meister responded as he mentally still tried to get himself to calm down. _She's okay with the accident thing. Good. Just explain to her calmly of what your current situation is... _He tried to instruct himself. "There is a whole zombie-pick-up-line section in the book, and I was reading them aloud because I was bored."

_"You? Bored?"_

"Yes, I was, due to the amount of papers and reports I had to work on. You don't know how many papers I've had to go through already. I'm not sure if you want to know, really..."

Before Meister could continue, he heard the clattering of something hitting the pavement, a mutter of 'Crap,' before hearing a quick 'Eeek!' and a loud bang after that. His eyes widened in shock at the sudden disturbance, and he immediately shouted (yes, shouted) into the phone, concern and panic both leaking into his tone of voice.

"A-Adenauer-san!? Are you alright!?" He asked, thinking up the worst that could happen. "Adenauer-san?"

There was a moment of hesitation, with a little shuffling being heard, before Monica answered him. _"Yes...I'm okay...I've just got a bleeding nose. I dropped the phone and I tripped, and..."_

"You don't need to explain anymore." Meister responded, as he mentally-partially sighed of relief. "Your nose isn't broken, is it...?"

_"No, I don't think so...I just need tissue right now so I can stop the bleeding, I'll be okay..."_

Meister felt terrible inside now. Not only did he accidentally say such a stupid pick-up line to Monica, of all people, he was indirectly the cause of her falling. _If I hadn't called her, she wouldn't have to pick up her phone. And if she didn't have to pick up her phone when she dropped it, she wouldn't have tripped and gotten a bloody nose! Darn it!_

"I wish I could provide you with tons of tissue, or a handkerchief, but I can't really do that right now..." Meister trailed off awkwardly. "It's all my fault for calling you in the first place, and..."

_"Geez, it's okay! It's not like you tripped me or anything like that! Calm down, will you?" _Monica responded, and Meister noticed a little pout in her voice.

_Wait, wait, did she just pout? That's kind of cu-Wait, no! Pay attention to the conversation! _Meister scolded himself, before he spoke up.

"Well then...What can I do to lighten up this soured mood? Read another stupid pick-up line?" He joked a little, in hopes to cheer her up a bit.

_"Well...I guess you could. You don't have to." _Monica responded.

"If you say so, miss patissiere queen, I will then." Meister responded, before picking up the book and flipping through the pages.

_No, no, no, no...All of these pick-up lines sound really stupid. Maybe I could-oh, wait...Wait, but if I said that, it would be kind of risky, wouldn't it? No, no, it should be reasonably okay. It's not like I'm trying to flirt with her, right? That would be wrong. I'm just trying to cheer her up. There._

"If my heart was still beating...It'd beat for you." He finally spoke after taking a deep breath.

_Is she okay with this? Is this a rational-Goodness gracious, I'm not a scientist! _

He swore, for a moment, he heard her smile. _"Hey, that was actually pretty decent for a pick-up line. Was it from the book?"_

"...No." He admitted as blush overtook his face again. "I-I just kind of thought of it..."

He heard her laugh a little. _"Well, I suppose I shouldn't keep you distracted any longer if you've got all this paperwork to get done."_

"I suppose so." Meister responded, smiling a little. "See you."

_"Bye!"_

Click. Meister put the phone aside, before closing his eyes briefly so he could think on what just happened.

_I wonder if she'll need any more tissue..._

* * *

"I'm back." Kai spoke up as he entered the kitchenette area of the apartment. "I-Monica!" He rushed over to her as soon as he saw the bloody tissues. "What happened?" He asked, eyes widening in shock.

"Well, Meister accidentally called me because he said he was taking a brief break from work by reading and accidentally pressed the call button on his phone. And while we were talking, I dropped the phone and I tripped..." Monica trailed off.

"You're not bleeding anymore, are you?" The samurai asked. Monica shook her head. "Oh, good-WHAT THE-SHOO!"

The last three words were due to a bird suddenly flying into the room (the window was open) and the samurai promptly took out his katana blade, swinging it around to chase the bird out. Monica ducked down, out of fear that she might get cut up instead of the bird. The avian creature flew out the window after a few panicky moments of "Shoo!" and the sounds of breaking cups and plates (and they were just dried from the rack, too...).

Kai and Monica both let out a sigh of relief before the samurai helped the patissier stand. "Are you alright?" He asked. Monica nodded, before the two turned to see that something was slightly different, aside from broken cups and plates.

There was a few packs of tissue, tied together by a handkerchief. A note was attached to the handkerchief by a safety pin, and Monica looked at the note carefully, reading the elaborately handwritten words.

_For your use only._

* * *

Meister let out a quiet sigh as he finished his last report for the day, and stood from his chair. He turned, looking out the window, before one of his hands trailed up to his face.

He thought about her, how he'd heard her smile and laugh and reassure him about the whole bloody nose incident. And he'd been so embarassed when he accidentally called her, yet she didn't freak out as he expected and instead helped him calm down...

_Darn it. I think...I think I might actually...I think I might actually fancy her a little. So much for trying to resist myself..._


	3. Suspicious

_2. Suspicious_

Monica sighed as she looked at all the paperwork. If there was one thing that she would hate about being General Manager for the Patisserie branch, it would probably be the paperwork. She wondered how the heck Meister got through all this when _he _first became General Manager of the Main Store. _It must have been insane for the first while,_ She supposed. _But then again, it makes sense how's he's able to work through his paperwork-he's got more experience with it than I do...Maybe I should ask him for advice sometime..._

Before Monica could get started on the paperwork, her cellphone rang. She picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Monica, is that you?"_ Shachihoko's voice spoke from the phone.

"Yeah, Shachihoko." Monica responded, grinning. "How's things going at the Nagoya branch?" It had been a while since she chatted with the Nagoya fanatic, since the end of the Monaco Cup, and it was nice to talk with him again, she admitted that.

_"It's going pretty well." _Shachihoko responded cheerfully, and Monica was sure she heard him grin. _"I'm kind of famous considering I was on the American team during the Monaco Cup, despite the fact that Kawachi beat me. The Nagoya branch has been getting a lot more customers lately because of that. And..." _He paused for dramatic effect, before shouting, _"Congrats for becoming General Manager of the new patisserie branch!" _

"Aw, thanks!" Monica responded, smiling.

_"That's not all. I figured to celebrate your new position, I decided to mail you some candy. Japanese candy, to be more precise. It's not like banana chips can be found around here, you know. It should be at your apartment by tomorrow." _

"Thanks for the gift, I mean, you didn't have to..." Monica paused, before continuing to speak. "Speaking of gifts...Um...I got a gift yesterday from someone. I don't know who, but it just suddenly showed up in my apartment out of nowhere."

_"What? Seriously? Did they leave a note with the gift? Wait, what was the gift, anyway?"_

"The gift was a pack of tissues tied together with a handkerchief. And yes, the person did leave a note, it was pinned to the handkerchief...It read, _for your use only." _Monica responded. "I had a bloody nose that day, and-"

_"How did you get a bloody nose? Did you smash it against something?"_

"Well..." Monica then proceeded to explain to Shachihoko about Meister accidentally calling her and reading zombie-pick-up lines, her dropping the phone and tripping, and so on. "It's really weird. I got the gift right after Kai shooed out that bird." She finished.

_"Huh...Bird, eh? That's...Interesting..."_

"I'm going to assume you didn't send that to me."

_"Umm...No." _Shachihoko muttered awkwardly in response. _"I'm not so sure if you getting the gift is good...I mean, people who usually do that are stalkers, or...Or...What if they're trying to assasinate you!? I mean, you're the queen of patisserie! People are bound to be jealous of you!"_

Monica's eyes widened at the statement. "I didn't think of that. But-but-don't stalkers usually try to peep on you while you're showering or something? I don't imagine they would send gifts first...I thought people would spy first..."

_"No, I'm sure they send gifts first...Um...Just saying, you might want to be careful..."_ Shachihoko paused before finishing. _"Hey, if something like this happens again, or things just don't seem right, you might want to tell the police about it...And I'm always here to help."_

"Thanks, Shachihoko." Monica glanced at her paperwork. "I've got to go, I've got work to do."

_"Right. See ya."_

* * *

Shachihoko sighed as he put the phone down. _Dang it, I guess I'm not the only one going after Monica; there's someone else too besides Suwabara and I. But who? _

_Okay, okay, let's get to the details. She got tissue packs wrapped in a handkerchief. And she had a bloody nose that day. Who was calling her during the time? Meister? And she said it appeared shortly after Kai shooed a bird out of the apartment. Wait, wait, wait...Bird. Meister. Think._

_...Oh crap. Crap..What the heck is he thinking!? Is he INSANE!?_

_But then again, it's not like he even knows where he lives, unless he's been spying on her in secret...Aaugh, I just don't know, but...I better keep an eye out for stuff like this. Who knows what sort of intentions Meister might have for her?_

* * *

_What if she thinks I'm a stalker? I mean, she's bound to possibly figure out that I was the one who sent that gift, and...And..._

_What if she told someone else about it? Would they immediately assume that the person who sent it is a stalker, or pedophile, or an assasin or the like-_

_Hold it, hold it. I can't be a pedophile, considering that I do NOT lust for her in such a way, my feelings are pure...I think..._

_And I can't be an assasin, because killing her would be the very, very last thing I'd want to do. Aside from trying to do any harm to her, anyway. _

_So...That leaves stalker. Does leaving gifts for her, no matter how simple they can be, count as me stalking her? Well, I'm not trying to peep on her while she's in her apartment or sneaking secret cameras into her bed-_

_Wait, wait, wait! NO! NO...Not good. Don't even go there. Ugh. _

_Okay, I guess that means I'm not any of those things. But I really should be more careful next time..._

Meister sighed as he put his head in his hands, before continuing his paperwork.

_Love really is like chaos in the universe, isn't it?_


	4. Questions

_3. Questions_

Ryou Kuroyanagi noticed that something was a bit different with Meister lately. The older man didn't seem as clearly focused on his work as he was, but perhaps it was due to the fact that Yuiichi Kirisaki, Meister's father, was trying to completely take over Pantasia and grind it into pieces. Or at least, that was what Kuroyanagi first thought.

A later observation proved something otherwise. Kuroyanagi had noticed Meister pause occasionally in his work, most likely to just think, and then blush with embarassment or something. Heck, the Pantasia executive swore that he might have seen the General Manager try his hand at writing poetry in his spare time. And the poetry wasn't just any sort of poetry, they were sonnets, and all of them revolved around the theme of love. Unrequited love, to be more exact.

Of course, Meister never seemed to have the intention of sending any of them, and he'd even thrown some across the room after scrunching them into little paper balls to most likely mark them as failures. Kuroyanagi understood this, as he had actually read some of it when Meister wasn't looking.

Yes, Meister was indeed a terrible poet. Kuroyanagi decided that from the first bit of the General Manager's poetry that he read.

Kuroyanagi was curious. And besides, if something distracted Meister from his work, it should be done with quickly. So, he decided to ask about the issue.

"Meister?"

"Yes, Kuroyanagi-kun?" Meister responded, looking up from his paperwork. "Is there anything the matter?"

"I'm just wondering...Well..." Kuroyanagi fumbled with his words, and he paused before composing himself and continuing. "You seem to be a bit...Off, lately." He paused again, before continuing. "You've been acting a bit different than usual."

"Such as...?" Meister asked, his eyes widening a little behind his titanium mask.

"Such as randomly pausing in your work to seemingly think, then blush of embarassment, as well as writing the worst poetry that I've ever read in existence." Kuroyanagi blurted out, before face-palming himself. "Crap..." _I didn't want that last part to be heard!_

Meister just stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, before speaking. "I admit my sonnets are crap, but how dare you look at them!" He exclaimed, standing up. "They're personal and for someone-" As soon as the last word slipped out, Meister bit his tongue and looked away from Kuroyanagi, blushing of embarassment. "For a certain someone..." He trailed off, now completely embarassed. Thank goodness Kuroyanagi couldn't see his face from behind his mask; Meister was sure that his face was almost completely red with embarassment...

Kuroyanagi gaped for a moment, before composing himself. "W-wait...Certain someone?" Kuroyanagi sputtered a bit. "Y-you have a girlfriend?"

"No I don't!" Meister immediately answered, face-palming himself. "I'm not dating anyone..."

"A crush. You have a crush on someone and you haven't admitted it to them, have you?" Kuroyanagi guessed a second time.

"...You're right." Meister muttered, sinking back into his chair and admitting defeat to that statement. "I have a crush on someone..."

"Then why don't you just go up to her and confess to her?" Kuroyanagi asked, confused. "I'm sure with your obvious way of charming everyone with your presence that you could probably woo her."

"It's not that easy!" Meister muttered, still blushing a little. "There are two problems to that. One of them is age difference-"

"She's older than you?" Kuroyanagi asked. Meister shook his head. "Younger?" Meister nodded. "My age?" Meister shook his head again. "How young is she!?"

"...A little younger than you." Meister finally admitted, letting out a sigh. "It must seem completely stupid of me to fall for someone so young..."

"Well..." Kuroyanagi trailed off. He was unsure of what to say, and quickly changed the subject. "What is the second problem?"

"...She already has a boyfriend about her age."

Kuroyanagi face-palmed himself. "Meister, you can't go and pursue her! She has a boyfriend, and the age difference-"

"I know! And I know I'm stupid to fall for her!" Meister interrupted him, letting out another sigh and shaking his head a little. "It's just...I just want her to know how I feel. And I know she'll reject me, but...I can't stop myself from fancying her a little. And whatever intentions I have for her are not sexual or the like, I swear! My intentions...They..." Meister paused, before murmuring. "They are pure."

Kuroyanagi didn't know what to say in response to that at first. He looked at the Meister's facial expression. Despite his face being covered with that mask, Kuroyanagi knew that Meister was serious about it. There was no way he would go back on something serious like this. Not at all.

Kuroyanagi picked up one of Meister's scrunched up wrecks of poetry and looked at it, before glancing at Meister. "I'm glad you know your boundaries about it." He spoke up, putting it in his pocket as he continued. "Just be careful not to cross any of those. It's for the best for you and the certain someone."

"Thank you." Meister responded, and he paused before speaking up again. "I thought you said my poetry was crap."

"I did." Kuroyanagi responded.

"Then why did you just pick up one of my failures and put it in your pocket, hmm?" The older man asked, smirking a little.

Kuroyanagi blushed, embarassed. "Well-well-This one is an exception!" Kuroyanagi responded, before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Kuroyanagi sighed, before taking out his cellphone and putting it to his ear. "Yeah? Matsushiro? I think I'm going to need your help..."

* * *

Meister let out a quiet sigh. It was good for him to know his boundaries, especially when somehow-pusuiting the love of an eighteen-year-old queen of patisserie-

Wait, wait. _Eighteen?_ Meister's eyes widened at the realization. _Dang it, I'm ten years older than her! Of course it would be wrong! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!_

The General Manager of Pantasia's Main Branch then proceeded to face-desk himself once, groaning a little. _Love really, really, REALLY is becoming chaos. My theory was right..._

* * *

**Author note: I wanted to put Kai in here somewhere, but I figured this chapter should probably end here. Next chapter we will hopefully see him...**


	5. Ruined

_4. Ruined_

Kai Suwabara felt completely weird about what was happening lately.

First, that mystery gift from whoever else may have admired Monica, and now Monica had mentioned that Shachihoko had called earlier and was sending her some Japanese candy as a present to congratulate her for her new postion as the General Manager of the patisserie branch, too.

He didn't exactly know what to do about it, so he'd called Baldy for advice, out of all people. Kai had a feeling neither Kanmuri or Azuma would be able to help him in this situation.

_"You haven't given her a gift to congratulate her for her new position!?"_ Kai remembered Kawachi responding to him in disbelief. _"Dude, when your girlfriend gets something that awesome, you should be the first to congratulate her, idiot...Go get her something she likes, quickly! I don't know what you should get her...Candy? You've told me before that she likes candy!"_

Kai cleared his throat, before speaking. "Um, Monica?"

Monica looked up as she put some newly cleaned dishes on a rack. The two had just finished eating dinner, and Kai figured now would be a good idea to give her the gift. After all, they hadn't had dessert yet, anyway. "Yeah?" She responded quietly. "What is it?"

"Well..." Kai took a deep breath before continuing. "I know this is really late and all, but..." He extended the gift to her. "Congratulations. I'm sorry for not doing this earlier."

Monica's eyes widened at the gift extended towards her, and her face broke into a wide grin. "Thank you Kai!" She responded cheerfully, embracing him in a tight hug for a moment. Kai felt himself blush all the way to his toes as she let go of him, and then gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She then picked up the gift in her hands, looking at it carefully, before looking up at Kai. "When did you get this?"

It was Kai's turn to grin a little. "I actually made it myself, yesterday. I thought you'd like it." He explained as Monica glanced at him as she continued to hold the small candy-molded sunflower in her hands.

She just kept smiling at him, and the two gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before Monica leaned forward-

And that was when the phone rang.

Monica immediately ran to the phone, and picked it up. The two heard an angry male voice on the other end.

_"Ken Matsushiro, I swear you won't get away with blackmailing me and-" _The voice started.

"General Manager?" Kai interrupted, snatching the phone from Monica and speaking into it. "Is that you?"

_"Eh? What the-Uh-Oh...Oh crap. Darn it..." _Meister was heard muttering. _"I-I'm really sorry, Suwabara-san! I didn't mean-Oh crap, I-I-I-Matsushiro-san blackmailed me, and I wanted to shout angry statements at him! I should have been more careful when dialing the number...I apologize sincerely for this.." _He trailed off, sounding a bit embarassed by his mistake.

Kai let out a sigh. "It's alright, GM...And what do you mean by blackmail?"

_"Matsushiro-san blackmailed me into going to this theme park this upcoming Saturday. He said I have to invite you, Kuroyanagi-san, Monica, and Shachihoko-san to come along too, otherwise he's going to post up a picture of me without my mask on the internet, and I really don't want to attract any attention right now, considering that Pantasia is kind of in a rough spot right now...I was going to call you two after I did my angry rants towards Matsushiro, but, well, you probably understand the rest from there."_

"I see..." Kai paused for a moment, before speaking again. "That would be bad if Pantasia got that sort of attention. Pantasia probably doesn't have the time to focus on gossip surrounding anyone, and we have to focus on the work against St. Pierre, right?"

_"Right."_

Monica took the phone back from Kai, before speaking into it.

"I don't think it would be a bad idea for Kai and I to come along with you to the theme park." Monica spoke up, grinning. "I mean, I need a break from all this work of being the patisserie branch's General Manager. How do you deal with all the paperwork at the Main Branch!?"

Meister was heard giving a small chuckle before he responded. _"It's all quite tedious, I know, but I do hope that you will get used to it soon. Reports and papers and such come into my office every day and I usually end up working late because of trying to get it all done. Whenever I get stressed out about it I just reassure myself that as soon as I get it done, I can get sleep. And sleep is important for one's health."_

"Right." There was an awkward silence before Monica spoke up again. "Well, I guess Kai and I will be seeing you on Saturday. See you."

_"See you, Adenauer-san."_

Monica put down the phone, before turning to Kai, who sighed.

"What in the world is the South Tokyo manager thinking?" He asked aloud, shaking his head. "Why would he be so insane to do something like this at such a bad time?"

"I don't get it, either..." Monica trailed off quietly.

On the inside, Kai seemed to be concerned about Matsushiro messing with things, but inside he knew that his moment to give his gift to Monica was completely ruined. And that just wasn't good.

He swore Matsushiro would not get away with this. For sure.

* * *

Meister let out a groan after he put the phone down, just as Kuroyanagi walked into the room.

"How did it go? Did Matsushiro decide to let you off?" Kuroyanagi asked.

Meister shook his head. "Worse. I called Monica and Kai by accident..." He trailed off, and Kuroyanagi knew a mortified expression was on the older man's face. "I was worried things might get worse, but thankfully they brushed it off and also accepted the invitation to go to the theme park. Shachihoko already said yes, too, so..." He made eye contact wiht the younger man. "That leaves you."

Kuroyanagi paused, before speaking. "Well, we can't have any scandalous rumours start erupting because I decide not to go, so I guess I'll have to. But seriously, what in the world is Matsushiro thinking!?"


	6. Paint the Roses Red

_5. Paint the Roses Red_

"What are we doing here again?" Kawachi asked as Matsushiro sighed.

"We're going to follow Kuroyanagi, Meister, Monica, Shachihoko and Suwabara around this theme park and see what happens. I want to know for sure if Shachihoko, Meister and Suwabara are all falling for Monica." Matsushiro explained as he, Kawachi, Tsukino, Azuma and Kanmuri snooped around the park wearing various disguises.

Kawachi just sighed as he looked around. _An Alice in Wonderland theme park? ...Of all the places Manager blackmailed Meister into going to, it had to be this place of all places...?_

"But, if that's the case, Manager...Why did you blackmail Kuroyanagi-senpai into going?" Kanmuri asked, confused. "You're not checking if he's going to fall for Monica."

"I have the feeling that he might possibly be falling for Meister, and I need to check that too." Matsushiro answered swiftly. The others just exchanged weirded-out glances with each other, before they started to follow their targets.

* * *

"Where should we go first?" Shachihoko asked, looking around.

"Hey, there's a costume shop over there!" Monica spoke up, pointing in one direction before dragging Kai. "C'mon!"

The other three Pantasia males figured they should probably follow them. Once they got into the costume shop, they figured trying on some outfits and taking photos would be kind of fun.

The first time they walked out of the changing booths...It was incredibly awkward, especially for the older people in the group (Meister and Kuroyanagi, to be more exact). Meister was in the signature dress that the main character from 'Alice in Wonderland' wore, while Kuroyanagi was stuck in the Queen of Hearts' dress. Suwabara and Shachihoko were awkwardly wearing dresses that resembled the Talking Flowers while Monica was wearing the Mad Hatters' outfit. All of them exchanged glances of embarassment, before running back into the changing booths.

The second time they walked out of the changing booths was lot better for everyone. Monica was now wearing the Alice dress while Meister was wearing an outfit that resembled the White Rabbit's outfit, complete with bunny ears and a tail. Shachihoko was wearing a Cheshire Cat outfit while Kai was in some sort of red and black uniform, something Kuroyanagi guessed was the Ace of Hearts. Kuroyanagi himself was wearing the Mad Hatter's outfit now, and he looked pleased that he wasn't looking like the Queen of Hearts anymore.

"White Rabbit?" Shachihoko spoke up as he looked at Meister all dressed up. "I think it actually suits you."

"Thanks." Meister responded, smiling a little. "I think all of you look really nice in the outfits..."

"Especially Monica, because she's awesome like that!" Shachihoko finished as he grinned at her.

Monica grinned at the compliment, before she looked at Kai. Her grin got a bit wider when she saw him in the uniform. "Kai, you look great!" She spoke up, giving the samurai a quick hug before trying to help him straighten the jacket.

Kai shrugged as he looked down at his uniform. "It's not really the most comfortable, but if I were to try on a larger size it probably wouldn't fit..." He mumbled quietly.

As everyone finally decided whether or not to purchase the costumes, Matsushiro was taking mental notes from afar, noting that despite Kai not liking the outfit he tried on, he bought it anyway.

* * *

"AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH, how do these things work again!?" Shachihoko groaned as he tried to steer the bumper car away from Kai, who was pounding him mercilessly with his bumper car. The samurai had learned quickly from Monica how to control the petite veichle and now was smashing into Shachihoko and laughing mercilessly. Kuroyanagi also joined in, chasing Monica around and trying to collide his veichle with hers. Meister had merely decided to watch, laughing a bit as he watched the chaos unfold in front of him.

"Why are we stalking them again?" Tsukino asked as she chewed on some cotton candy. Matsushiro sighed, muttering something about _stupid kid not paying attention _before he noted the fact that Kai was actually really good with the bumper cars. Monica was cheering for him whilst Meister was trying his best to cheer for Kuroyanagi and Shachihoko, and kept cringing slightly whenever Monica or Kuroyanagi collided with anyone intentionally on the bumper car ride.

* * *

The next ride everyone went on was the roller coaster ride. Everyone's screams could be heard on the ride, but Kuroyanagi especially was the loudest of them all.

Kai got sick after the ride and threw up in a nearby garbage can. Meister, in the meanwhile, quickly developed a fear of roller coasters and swore that he wouldn't go on another one for as long as he lived (although he seemed to go back on his word when Monica decided to go on a roller coaster later on).

Kai and Meister were not the only people to get sick in some way. Azuma and Matsushiro also got sick, to the surprise of Kanmuri and Tsukino.

* * *

When it finally came to the Ferris Wheel, Kai had to refuse to go on the ride, considering he was still sick, but he encouraged Monica to go without him. Kuroyanagi offered to watch him while Monica went on the Ferris Wheel, and Meister somehow beat Shachihoko in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for who would accompany her.

Meister let out a quiet sigh as he sat opposite Monica on the Ferris Wheel. As they began to be lifted higher into the air, he finally spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Um, Adenauer-san?" He started. Monica turned from looking out the window to look at him. "I'd like to thank you properly after we get off the Ferris Wheel. It's...It has been very long since I've been to an amusement park, and I suppose Matsushiro blackmailing me somehow turned out well for me, and the rest of you that came along."

"Oh, thank you..." Monica trailed off, before continuing. "You don't have to give me a gift or something-"

"It's the best I can do to thank you. I've already given my thanks to the others, and I would have given you your gift at the time, but I forgot to get yours earlier..." He trailed off sheepishly, blushing underneath his mask slightly of embarassment.

"It's okay, Meister." The patisserie queen responded, grinning at him. "I'm sure that I'll enjoy the gift." She paused, looking out the window before speaking. "Hey, where did Kai go?"

Meister glanced out the window before speaking. "I forgot to tell you that Kuroyanagi said that he and the others were going to get some snacks while we were on the Ferris Wheel. They said to stay at the Ferris Wheel until they got back."

"Okay."

* * *

As soon as the two got off the Ferris Wheel, Meister took a deep breath, before making a few hand gestures. In his hands appeared a small can of red paint with a new paintbrush, and a small bouquet of white roses in the other. He blushed from underneath his mask as he extended them towards her.

Monica looked at them, slightly confused. "Meister, I do appreciate the flowers, but why are you giving me paint?"

"Well, um, considering that this is an 'Alice in Wonderland' theme park, I was trying to go along with that theme. And besides, if you get sick of the colour white, surely you yourself can paint them red when the time comes for you." He responded, smiling a little. Monica let out a giggle at such a quirky idea and reached out her hands to accept the gifts when she froze.

"For you..." She trailed off quietly as something immediately clicked in her mind.

_For your use only. For you..._

Meister looked at her, clearly puzzled by the expression upon her face. "Adenauer-san?" He asked quietly, a bit of worry seeping into his tone. "Are you alright?"

"Meister?" Monica spoke up after a moment of silence. "Were you the one who sent me those tissues wrapped up in that handkerchief a couple days ago?"

It was Meister's turn to completely freeze.

* * *

_Oh gosh. No. NO. _

She knew. She figured it out, that he was the one who sent the handkerchief and tissues to her days ago. That was not good...

Meister knew he had to come clean with the whole thing, that he had to completely confess about his affection for her-

He cringed, expecting the worst to befall him, before he began to speak.

"Y-Yes. I did it. I s-sent you those tissues and handkerchief." He stammered, before he did his best to compose himself. "I...I know it's wrong for me to take affection towards you. Completely wrong and irrational it is, to try to somewhat pursue your affection. But I swear, I-I...I would never do anything to you. Ever. Not without your permission. If you want me to stop sending you gifts and talking with you so casually like in the cases when I accidentally called you, I would." He continued as he slowly began to lower his arms that extended the gifts to her. "I'm sorry... I don't...I don't want to cause tension between you and Kai because of me. I don't want that for the both of you, and I'm sorry for it."

He blinked, trying to get rid of a few tears that were trying to form in his eyes. _Dang it. Don't cry. Don't, don't, don't..._

"What's going on?" The two turned quickly to see Shachihoko, standing a few paces from them with a shocked and somewhat angered expression on his face. "I come back here to tell you guys it'll be a while until we get snacks and I find this..." He trailed off. "Meister, what are you trying to do!? You're going to break the law, you know! What are you, some pedophile in disguise or something!?"

"I'm not a perverted criminal who would pursue adolescents for sexual desire only!" Meister responded back somewhat sharply, realizing that he had to make things straight before people starting assuming things. "I don't think of Monica in that way, and-"

"I bet you're lying!" The blond teen shouted back, walking over to Meister quickly. Meister, startled by this, dropped both the paint can and bouquet, which resulted in the spilling of paint and roses all over himself and Shachihoko. "What the frick!? What was that for?!"

"I didn't mean it-I'm sorry-" Meister started, but Shachihoko just shoved him aside, shaking his head before starting to walk away.

"Shut up. Please. And please don't go near Monica anymore, okay? Suwabara would kill you. Heck, _I'll_ kill you if you hurt her. I will." Shachihoko muttered as a more sorrowful tone caught his voice.

It may have seemed cliche, but Monica felt a raindrop hit her face. And then another one. And another.

It was pouring rain, and the two were completely soaked head-to-toe by the water dripping from above.

Meister looked up at Monica, his eyes full of complete shame of himself as he stood, looking down at the destroyed gifts. "I'm sorry." He muttered quietly, averting his gaze from her.

It was to his surprise when he realized she was starting to tear up. He felt terrible, but he didn't know if he should just stand there or embrace her and fear that Suwabara might come quickly and discover them. Despite his fears, though, he knew that he couldn't just let Monica cry because all of this happened.

He took the latter option. Monica looked up at Meister as his body shook slightly as he tightly held her.

"Please stop crying. I don't know-I-I know I sound stupid, but I don't know what to do if you cry. Please."

It was him that was sobbing, and Monica knew that he really meant everything he said, even before his tears.


	7. Surrender

_6. Surrender_

Kai didn't get it. First, Monica had been so happy to be at the amusement park with Kuroyanagi, Meister, Shachihoko and Kai himself. But later on, she had just simply asked if they could go home earlier, claiming that she was getting tired.

He knew she was lying. She looked completely energized still, but...

When he saw Meister, his clothing splattered a little with red paint and a grim expression on his face _(was he crying earlier?)_, as well as a furious Shachihoko who had paint all over his jeans and sneakers, Kai and Kuroyanagi both decided that they should probably just go back home.

She didn't want to talk about it. He knew something was up, but he didn't want to press towards the upsetting issue. He didn't want her to be sad like this...

The phone rang, and Kai picked it up. "Hello?"

_"Suwabara-san? May I talk to you, please?"_

Kai's eyes widened as soon as he realized who was speaking on the other end.

"GM...is that you?"

There was a pause, before Meister spoke in response. _"Y-yes, it's me. I apologize for calling so late, but it's important. Do you mind if we talk?"_

"Now?"

_"Yes." _There was something that sounded like something between a cough and a sob, but then Meister continued. _"Before we start, though...is Monica in here?"_

"...No."

_"Good. This has to be private." _Meister took a deep breath, before speaking again. _"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have even started with the first gift. It was wrong of me to pursue her, and-"_

"What?" Kai felt himself getting confused. "First gift? What-"

He then remembered. The bird. The handkerchief and tissues...

"Y-You sent those gifts?" He blurted out, realizing what was going on. "You actually-you actually-" Rage initially made its way into his mind. Why? Why had Meister been pursuing _his _girlfriend? He didn't get it.

_"Don't hang up, please. I'm sorry." _Meister cut in, before another cough made its way into Suwabara's ears. _"What happened at the amusement park earlier today...all I did was just give her a gift. To thank her for coming to the amusement park with me. And then I...I told her I liked her. Shachihoko-san, he...he must have overheard me, and accused me of being a-a creep for trying to pursue her sentimental feelings. I spilled some paint on him by accident, and he got really mad and left. I tried to call him earlier to apologize, but he didn't pick up the phone." _

"..." Kai wasn't sure whether he should hang up now, or keep listening.

_"I'm sorry, Suwabara-san, for all of this. I really am. I...I won't pursue her anymore. I won't send her gifts, or openly show my feelings towards her or anything like that anymore-I shouldn't have done it in the first place, despite what my heart kept telling me to do. I understand if you don't forgive me for something as unforgivable as this, or if you're angry or sad or feeling negatively towards me from now on, and it's my fault. I know that. I'm sorry."  
_

Kai then realized the coughs that he thought he was hearing over the phone were restrained sobs. The samurai was silent for a moment, before he spoke into the phone.

"I'm glad that you told me about this, GM. I'm glad that at least you're not stupid enough to not acknowledge your mistakes. And I don't think it's a good idea to be pursuing other people's girlfriends."

There was silence, before Meister spoke in response. _"I know. I'm sorry. And...thank you."_ He paused, before finishing. _"Keep Adenauer-san close, Suwabara-san. She is a remarkable, strong woman. If you lose her, I doubt you can find anyone to replace her. Cherish the fact that she does love you-alright?"_

"Yes."

_"...Can you tell Adenauer-san I'm sorry? For everything?"_

"...I can do that."

_"...Goodnight, Suwabara-san. And...thank you."_

There was a click afterward. Meister had hung up.

Suwabara let out a sigh, hung up the phone, and leaned back in his chair to think.

He really should talk to Monica about this. Soon.

* * *

Meister let out a sigh as he put the phone down.

"It's done." He muttered quietly.

Kuroyanagi was silent for a moment, before he responded.

"It's good that you told him about it and apologized, Meister. I think...I think that you know what to do, now."

"Yeah. Keep to my word, like a gentleman should do." The older man responded, diverting his gaze from the younger one for a moment. "This whole mess was done because of me-I shouldn't have pursued her. Not even the first gift."

"Hopefully things should get a little better, at least. You should be happy it didn't get any worse than that-if the public learned about it, Pantasia would be in an even rockier position than it is right now." Kuroyanagi responded in a lecturing tone. Meister knew the tone too well-from being lectured on how eating enough would be better for him rather than barely eating anything while doing paperwork, to the fact that he shouldn't be straining his health and all, and now this, too-Meister knew he was right about that.

Meister didn't have to say anything in response to that to tell Kuroyanagi that he was listening. He just knew he would know.

* * *

**Author note: ...So, I haven't updated this fic in a long while, as well as Radioactive, Reflections, etc. Sorry about the delay-being busy with writing tons of other fics doesn't help, as well as the reality of life outside fanfiction. Hopefully one of my other fics or this fic will be updated soon. Thanks for your patience!  
**


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